family – Page 59 – Karla's Cottage

Save the dates and due dates

By Karla Nathan / October 25, 2010

Did you notice the new button on the side bar of my blog? I'm so excited to announce that my friend, Jenn Hayslip has asked me to teach a mini workshop during opening night at her fairy filled event next October in North Carolina. I was at the first art party that Jenn ever threw, I so I know just how beautiful her events are. And this one is all about FAIRIES! Right up my alley!

I'm honored to be a part of it all! The instructors are:

Dee Faust, Andrea Singerella, Lori Oles, and Natasha Burns.

You can check out Jenn's blog for details and gorgeous graphics. See how cute the frames for the teacher's pics are. This gives you an idea of what the weekend will be about, romantic, fluttery sprites, magic and make believe.

These babes aren't your childhood fairy tales…. no, these will be lush, lovely, and luxurious, grown up and gorgeous fairies. I hope you'll join us there.

And here is another fabulous fairy, my Gypsy Girl and her tummy ful-o-baby.

She had a rough night, we thought that that our family's newest fairy was about to have her birthday, but the contractions stopped again.

A good, and generous friend, who is a professional photographer gifted my son's Beloved Gypsy Girl with a photo session of her baby to be. I went along to make sure she didn't over do it (she's on bed rest) and to snap a few photos with my own camera too. These are a couple that I got while taking advatage of all the cool lighting my friend had set up.

She is a beautiful lady, isn't she? Hard to believe she is the mother of SIX. I'm so worried about her own health with the off and on labor that has been going on for weeks. During this pregnancy we've grown close and I love her like my own now. I've been lucky with the girls my son has brought home. Sugarwing's Hippy Chick Mommy will always be my little girl too, and we've found a way to make our unusual family all work together. You can't have too many people to love.

Please keep my baby girl and her expected baby girl in your thoughts. Its not been an easy time for her, she's been in a lot of pain. We are all waiting impatiently for our fairy tale happy ending when Mayara is finally in our arms.

Philosophical or just whiny?

family, I do tend to run on, don't I?, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / October 23, 2010

Do you ever feel like there just isn't enough time in the day?

Well, dur, I think that is a pretty typical problem.

Seems like it gets worse and worse for me every day. I'm trying to figure out where all my time goes. Beth and I want to have an online class for the upcoming holidays, since our Romantic Gothic Ghost class was so fun to do, but I don't have a single thing ready to go for it yet.

I did manage to pull together one last giveaway for the Halloween class, as promised. Beth has a bundle of goodies to give away too, I showed them in my last post. So, on October 31st, we'll have a drawing from everyone who had signed up for the classes and each give a prize pack to some one.

My goodie pack is all black and white, feathers and flowers from old hats, buttons, jewelry, and sheet music. All would be great embellishments for any of the projects, and honestly, most could be used in the upcoming Christmas class. That is if I ever get myself organized and get it done….

I know that as you age, days seem shorter and shorter. And they seem to run together. But man, for some reason, they are already going by in a blink of an eye for me. I'm not THAT old, am I?

There is a stack of projects a mile high in my head, waiting to happen. Some with deadlines that I'm afraid will be hard to meet.

These photos have nothing to do with my complaining about time management.

Actually, they are something to be proud of, I was able to photograph and add all these pretties and supplies to the Boutique and the Etsy shop. I'm trying to get my Etsy store stocked back up so that I keep 50 items in it, that used to be my goal and always worked well for me.

My online store was low on wallpaper, and I wanted to add a few packs to it and to the Etsy shop. I like to keep some in stock, along with other favorite supplies, but haven't had time to cut any more. So, I raided the stash of precut pieces that I keep by my desk and filled out the packs with some ephemera.

There is also a cabinet full of large pieces that I keep cut and stored within reach, so I won't suffer by parting with my 8 x 10" pieces. They are just such a handy size for a lot of projects, I spoil myself by keeping them around. But it won't hurt me to cut a hunk off of a bigger piece when I need some.

Heck, its not like I'm getting any work done anyway! Like I was just complaining about earlier. Somehow, I thought that since I was not going to be a vendor this year at Silver Bella, life would be more simple.

Ha!

I'm still not caught up!

Imagine how crazy I'd be if I had a booth to prepare and price and pack for? I'd really be whining.

Actually, I'm pretty durn lucky to have a job that I can let slide and concentrate on other things. Like this spooky batch of grand kids. And sitting at the computer whining to you about how little I get done, instead of doing stuff.

We have Sugarwings for the weekend, so I have a feeling, that I'll be playing outside and getting dirty with her instead of getting any further on the Romantic White Christmas class.

And the whole truckload is coming by for a Halloween party on Wednesday with some other kids, so maybe the projects piling up in my mind will just have to wait. The trick is to live in the moment and enjoy it, no matter how fleeting the moments feel.

Not to sound morbid, but you also realize as you get older that your moments are limited.

Now, I plan to live to be over 100 like my Great Aunt Caroline, but even that seems too soon for me, with all the things I want to do.

You only get so many minutes allotted to you in each lifetime. So, its hard for me to see them going by so quickly. I just want to savor my days, but before I know it, the day is done.

On the other hand, my son, the Guru, has a theory about time and aging. He says that when you are in "the zone" creating, enjoying your life, meditating, or just letting time slip away, YOU DO NOT AGE. hmm, try telling my jowls and sagging butt that one.

Well, instead of complaining, I think I'll go scan some images for the new online class before Sugarwings gets here soon. Time is what you make it. I like to think that its good to organize some and let the rest just flow.

Because there is just no fighting it, anyway.

(I'll have some baby shower photos coming up next post, that is if I ever get time to edit them!!)

A Family of Fairies to watch over the new gypsy fairy baby

celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, how to's, parties

By Karla Nathan / October 21, 2010

The baby shower was such fun! It was more of a dinner party with presents. I'd thought we'd eat outdoors, but the evenings are getting cooler, so I had to quickly scoop all the mess out of the way in the studio and pull some tables together so we could eat indoors.

My studio is ideal for parties, even though its always a bit of a hodge podge. I just grab things from around the room that are destined for sale, or stuff I made, or supplies waiting to be made into something else and create a tablescape with whatever is handy.

(the cute little girl with the umbrella is going into the Boutique today, there are 6 total, never used before until I opened the vintage package for the baby shower. Yea, I know they were probably worth more in an unopened package, but thats not how I roll. I believe everything should be used and enjoyed!!)

We couldn't use the dining room in the house for the party, because I had the table in there all set up with cakes and decorations for the shower. (Pink and white fairy baby decor pictures of the dining room to come later)

It was a couples and kids party, not a typical baby shower. No games, just a glass of wine and a buffet dinner with lots of laughter and chatter.

The weather really was nice, and all the older kids ran around and played outside. They sat in the garden to eat, but the adults were happier indoors, some of the dads ate up in my husband's office so they could play pool. I didn't try to get the table set for everyone, I knew people would roam and sit where they were comfortable. I put a few chairs around the 3 tables in the studio and figured I could pull up more chairs as needed.

My parties are casual, not perfect. The food is usually a buffet in the kitchen where everyone serves themselves then finds a seat wherever they'd like.

Since this new grandbaby's momma loves all things gypsy and fairy, I went with very bright colors for the dinner table. I also made up a mobile for the baby with her family as colorful fairies on it.

We are having what feels like a long, lovely extended September around here. My flower beds are looking better than ever, so I was albe to pick some blooms to bring in, then I scattered millinery flowers around the centerpieces too.

(there are now LOTS of red carnations and roses for sale in my Etsy and my Boutique, ready for Christmas crafting or decorating)

To make the Fairy Family members for the mobile, first I cut a branch down and spray painted it green and added some glitter to the wet paint.

Then, I went through all my files to find pictures of everyone and printed two of each, one regular, one mirror image.

With the mirror image done, both were cut out and glued back to back, so that when they hang, they can spin around and look good from both sides.

(Her crown is a bit of lace trim, colored with markers)

Some of the pictures got a little extra editing, like tinting Dimitri green like an elf.

I loved this picture of Sugarwings, but her dress was pink, so I edited it to fit in better with the other images too.

These two guys were such fun poses! Perfect for this project!

Now, how this mobile will hang over the bassinette is another issue altogether. I think it needs to be in a vase on a table near the bassinette, not attached. Or hung from the ceiling. But, I'm leaving that up to her parents on how to display it. Won't they look pretty together?

One more bit of marketing before I go- also new in the Boutique is this "Whispers in the Dark" crown made from vintage copper screening, old trims, millinery, and vintage jewels. The image is from our Romantic Gothic Ghost class, which you still have time to join. We've had new students joining reguarly. There are some pretty quick projects, plus most can be slightly altered to be used year round, not just at Halloween. The emphasis is more on Romantic and Gothic than ghostly.

We've provided lots of images, backgrounds, and extras to print out and use in other projects too.

Plus, we have two giveaways going now for the class. Anyone signed up by October 31st is entered to win one of two packages of vintage goodies to use as embellishments in your work.

And as my October Giveaway for my blog, one completed project will be gifted to the person whose name I draw from all of October's comments.

Gee, I need to just stop talking, don't I? Sometimes my posts can just go on forever.

Gypsy Wagon Baby Bed

family, flowers, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 18, 2010

On Sunday, I did my part to get ready for the new baby. I painted a bassinette for her.

Its a Fairy Gypsy Wagon basket with lots of colors, flowers, butterflies, with a sun on one end and moon on the other.

While cleaning out the shed, I came across this old bassinette, that I had used for display at shows. My husband was horrified, not only because it wasn't leaving with the rest of the goodies in the shed, but because I said I was keeping it for the baby. He called it a death trap. Mostly, he just doesn't care for old stuff, and doesn't see possibilities in them.

The paint was chipped and peeling and it was full of spiders and dirt. Well, I'm not fond of spiders and those had to go, but I love chippy and peeling. Too bad that's not a safe thing for babies. It all had to be sanded to remove any loose paint, and the base of it needed to be repaired. Some of the brackets were missing and the wood was split out on one leg.

And I couldn't find a mattress for it anywhere in town. Wouldn't you think that Sears, Pennys or Walmart would carry a bassinette mattress? Nope. So, I went to the fabric store ( Hancocks), and got waterproof fabric meant for cribs, and some foam.

The foam was then wrapped up in the fabric and held in place with double stick tape that I get from Kay Ellen. The stuff is magnificent if you are a non-sewer! It sticks to just about anything and is really secure. She says its used for embellishing swim suits, so it must hold up well if it can do that.

I cut the foam to fit nice and snug, so it would be safe for a newborn. I used a firm piece of foam too. You don't want anything loose that a baby can smother in. Or a gap between the mattress and side of the bed where a baby can get trapped.

While these aren't my typical colors, I had a great time using them. Its fun to stretch and try something different. And to do something to make another person happy, and I think I did, the expectant momma is a rainbow gypsy and this was just right for her.

I used metallic and glitter paints here and there as accents, then sprayed it with clear poly and a bit of silver glitter spray too.

The only problem with it now, is that the sheets I found to fit it are white. Which just doesn't go with this colorful creation. So, I'll need to dye them, to complete the look. And I have a special mobile for it too…..

But I can't show that. Its a surprise for the baby shower tomorrow night.

While I had my brushes and paint out, I made a sign for my son's yard. Last week, we were sitting on their porch, watching the kids play on the side walk, and over and over, had to remind the kids that the alley was a ROAD and not safe to run into!

We thought a two sided sign, with this message facing the road might help.

This side faces the sidewalk. Sugarwings and Finn can't read, but Clover can, so I wrote "stop" for her. For the little ones, I made a cartoon that I hoped would catch their eye and be a reminder that a car could come by at any time.

Its not exactly a high quality production, but it was quick, and is colorful and I have my fingers crossed that they'll learn something from it. I spent about an hour on it, but I think its enough to get my point across.

Well, I'd better go and get ready for the baby shower. I've made a pumpkin cheesecake and brownies. Left on the menu is strawberry shortcake, mac and cheese, baked beans, sweet potatoes (that I dug out of my garden today!) olive salad, tossed salad, and crusty bread. We also have bean burgers (for the vegatarians) and my husband has a couple of big turkey breasts in the smoker right now, so I'll be slicing those up and covering them with BBQ sauce.

Its not a Kansas party unless you BBQ something!

My little punkin

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 14, 2010

One of our favorite things to do this time of year is to visit the pumpkin patch. Right outside our town, the cutest lil patch of pumpkins in the world exisits. Everything is free to do, you aren't even required to buy a pumpkin. There are tractor rides, a hay bale maze, play areas, cows to visit, and lots of pumpkins to meet.

We try to go often and each buy a small pumpkin and a treat each time. They have home made lemonade, and frozen cherry cider too. And I've learned to buy a few jars of local made pumpkin butter early, because towards Halloween, its all gone.

Kansas is beautiful this time of year. And so are these two. I try to get a photo of them like this at the patch every fall.

That's one hot grandpa, huh?

This just seems like yesterday…

She's growing up. No matter how wonderful it is to watch, its still hurts a bit to see it happen so fast.

The end of an era

antiques/junking, family

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2010

We've done it. The shed is empty. In clearing it out, we came across the sign I used to put bythe road during sale weekends, and someone stuck it in the ground here. Isn't the whole set up cute?? I was surprised that I felt no remorse at all, it was truly a relief to have it all behind me.

I'd stopped having the sales quite a while ago, but always thought that I'd have just one more little one to clear out remnants. But each year, the stuff got dustier and dirtier. There was still some great inventory left, an old iron bed, a mosaic table, doors, colums, dressers, chandeliers…. on and on.

7 truckloads total of goodies left here this weekend. All given away. It felt wonderful.

I could have taken it to the Salvation Army and gotten receipts for tax write offs… I could have listed the good stuff on Craigs List…. I could have had a sale… I could have just let it sit and rot… all these things were in my mind for years.

But I didn't do a single one. And it hung over me. Looming as a big chore that I had to face.

Finally, I just decided to let it go. Just let it leave. I knew there were things in there that people would love to have. It certainly wasn't just trash. It was good stuff that I had lovingly scrounged! But it was no longer worth anything to ME.

I'd made my profits from the business. This accumlation was paid for long ago, and I find things so cheap that I had very little cash into it. And if I considered how much I'd made over the years on the stuff I did sell, it certainly covered the small loss on these things.

And now we are ready for chickens!

The building is large, one side long and narrow, the other a big square. I'm thinking the smaller side for birds. If I ever get a pony for Sugarwings someday, it can live on the other side. We used to have 5 horses, but have since taken down the old barn. But I think that a pony would be really happy in my antique shop.

We also cleaned out the garage, to make room for two cars and the tractor. I had a furniture painting business in the past and the 24 x 24 building had been my workshop. So, another collection I had was bits and pieces of trim and hardware and interesting bits of wood.

In other words, stuff that rats love to build nests in if you leave it sitting for a few years unused!

So, everything was pulled from the garage, some was burnt, some went to a junker friend who also hauled off dozens of cans of paint.

We got the saw out and cut up my work bench. Since it had been built of pressure treated lumber, I thought of using it the top of it as a "bridge" or sidewalk in the garden, so we sat it in the creeping myrtle behind the house. The bottom half will be moved to the chicken coop to hold the nests.

And speaking of nests, here is a baby update:

My son's Beloved is still having contractions. She did way too much yard work on Saturday building a compost pile in her yard and had a rough weekend from that. On Sunday, I was really worried about her, she was so weak and pale, from contractions all night.

But she is on bed rest and now they have slowed down.

The newest fairy baby isn't due till November 11th or so. I'm hoping that this girl will be patient and wait till then to arrive, but her folks are hoping otherwise. The momma's other 5 kids were all born early and she feels ready NOW.

I'll let you know as things move along. Keep them in your prayers, please?

Lucky

antiques/junking, family, housework, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2010

You guys are all pretty nice to have around, you know it? Thanks!

Its such a beautiful day here in Kansas, what a great October weekend. We are going downtown with good friends to hear some live music in the park, and to enjoy this weather. But before that….

I have to make a stab at cleaning out this.

It used to be my antique shop. Before that it was a chicken coop. And now we are thinking about turning it back into a chicken coop again.

So, I've been trying to get ahold of people who I thought might want some of the junk that is left over. I'd like to have the building empty by tomorrow. What no one takes will be on the curb, feel free to stop and look through my trash if you are driving by!

And this is only half the shed. The other side is just as bad.

I'd thought about turning it into a play house for Sugarwings, but the idea of fresh farm eggs is just too tempting. We already have some fencing we could slap onto the back of the building and we have some shelves that would make good roosting.

No matter what we do with it, I need to get it de-junked. This stuff has sat here for years, unused and unloved. I know there has to be someone who wants it. I thought about doing a rummage sale, but it turns out that I am too lazy. Cleaning it will be bad enough, but sitting out there early in the morning trying to sell stuff for quarters and dimes? Its better just to find homes for it all.

I had to tell myself that I've already made my profits from that business, and now I'm out of the antique shop biz and the rest of the inventory has to go. Do you ever hang on to stuff, knowing that its worth something? Well, this is GOOD junk, that for some reason just didn't sell. Wrong time, wrong place, I guess. But even though it is "worth something" its worthless to me just rotting in the shed.

The stuff deserves a new home. And I deserve a clean shed.

Untill the chickens poo all over the shed, at least. Not so clean then.

Have you seen the newest Somerset Life? Lots of blog friends are in it!

Including these pretty pages by my Texas shopping bud, Lisa.

I was lucky enough to score two articles in it. And that sweet Lisa actually called me to congratulate me on them! I don't think she has any idea how touched I was by her gesture.

See, around here, no one is very impressed by my work.

One article is about my peat pot frozen Charlotte fairies. The photography was really nice on this article, I loved the faded, blurred pastel backgrounds they used for the pics.

And I was excited to see that one of the upcoming challenges for artists is to use a peat pot in their own artwork and send it in. The deadline is Feb. 15th if you are going to make something for it.

And speaking of good pictures- my friend, Carol, took the photos of my house that are in the current Somerset Home.

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. Not just being in two magazines on the stands at the same time, but in having good blog friends who leaped to my defense about the deleted post without even knowing the story behind it. Once everyone knew that it was the mom who didn't like what I said about the photos, everyone understood. Many of us were new moms at one time and knew completely how she felt.

And I'm lucky to have such a good family that pulls my foot out of my mouth for me every once in a while when I get it stuck there. And then they love me anyway, even with toe breath.

A better apology and a clarification

family

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2010

Me again. Back for a clarification. No one needs to be upset about me removing the post about how awful the sonogram pictures were. I took it down because I offended the child's mother, not a reader.

I didn't mean to be a bad witch.

Honestly, I was talking about how much the sonogram disapointed me. I was hoping for sweet cuddly baby pictures, I'd heard so much about this new technology. I would never in a billion years say that my grand child was funny looking. I said it was a funny picture.

Sometimes, I say things I think are funny and go too far. I usually see humor everywhere and probably would have buried myself in a ditch somewhere years ago if I couldn't find humor in the world. My family has had lots of ups and downs, I know I've mentioned some of it over the years in my posts. I deal with the world by looking for a silver lining and trying to find the happy spots.

I try to enjoy every minute I can. Life is too short to be petty, insecure, unhappy, or teed off. Life can also be a dangerous and messed up place. So when I get a chance to laugh, I take it. I never mean to offend anyone by being irreverant, or flip. I just see fun smeared all over everything. And I mention it.

I rarely, well actually, I never, stop to think if what I am saying is offensive because it simply doesn't occur to me that it is. Maybe I'm self centered. Maybe I'm shallow. I'll need to be double thinking about this for a while. From my point of view, things are fun and silly and cheerful. But I need to be more sensitve and realize that not everyone sees what I see.

*********Good Witch/bad witch tags by my Sissy************ cute vintage scarecrow note from Sue Stoke*********

Over the past 800 plus posts I've shared a lot with you, which is why I am blathering on about this situation. I figure you deserve an explanation for my deletion and my girl deserves a public apology for me hurting her feelings.

I hope that everyone knows that I adore my family. And I also hope that no one would honestly think that I'd accuse anyone of inapropriate behaviour with clowns. Besides, clown noses are not genetic- they are plastic and stuck on, no clown's child is born that way. It was just me being silly. Oh gosh, I should just shut up…I could be making it worse again.

And some of the photos from the 4D ultrasound were a little better than others. But overall, I have to say that I would not reccomend anyone purchasing these just for baby pictures. With an online coupon, the sonogram still cost me over $150 and the photos were not that great. Plus they are not looked at by a doctor. But, I have been so worried about this child, that I would have paid anything to see her wiggling and kicking around. And even though her face was blurry and I don't know what she'll look like, I am relieved to see that she looked healthy.

Thanks for listening.

An apology

family

By Karla Nathan / October 8, 2010

Well, apparenty its offensive to make fun of sonogram pictures. I just want every one to know that I already love the new grandbaby and know that she is beautiful. My whole last post (deleted) was just aimed at the 4-D sonogram, NOT THE BABY herself.

Practical Magic in all of us

Books, fairies, family, Film, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 25, 2010

Do you ever read Alice Hoffman? Its been too long since I've picked up one of her books. They always have a thread of magic woven through them,. Some of her stories are pure magic, some just have hints of it. But the most mystical of them all is Practical Magic.

That book was an all nighter for me. And when the movie came out, I didn't see how it could possibly measure up, but man. I'd watch that movie over and over just to get another glimpse of the house. But the whole thing is worth watching again and again even without the eye candy.

So, when I heard that Justina and Anna were having a Practical Magic party, I had to join in!

(right now, I'm out of town, and pre-posted this- but I will be party hopping and checking out all the garden spells and pointy hats when I get home)

I've always loved the witchy side of life. The hint of magic in all of us. Having Sugarwings around and seeing the world through her eyes has brought out the magic and fun in my life even more.

I've also discovered as I get older that playing dress up is just as much fun as it was when I was little like Sugarwings.(This picture is not doctored! I'm standing in front of a "light birdie" that the sun coming through a prism on the window has made)

At my Sissy's 60th birthday party, we all dressed up as fairies and witches and one of the highlights of the night was to dance around the house to "Put the Lime in the Coconut" like the sisters did in Practical Magic.

Maybe what I love about the book and movie so much is the sisters. Mine are my best friends, and I miss them every day. There is power in the love of sisters.

Magic is all around you, just waiting for you to find it.

Life is too short to not be hunting the magic that is waiting for you.

No matter how silly you might look while doing it.

You don't need a crystal ball to find the kind of magic I'm talking about.

All you need to do is pay attention, open your eyes to the beauty around you.

Be light hearted. Let yourself fly.

Show love, give love, be loved. That is the greatest magic.

Being creative is a way to find the magic inside yourself too. Lose yourself in making something.

Create something to decorate your own home, as a gift, or just for the pure sparkling joy of making it.

These crowns, that I made are all from images and some techniques we provided in Romantic Gothic Ghosts. (although the crowns themselves were not taught in the classes)

I've enjoyed doing the class so much. To me, Halloween isn't about the scary stuff, its the mysterious that I find intriguing. Practical Magic probably should have been on our list of Gothic Romances in the review Beth did in our tutorial. That luscious house, the gorgeous gardens, the teaser of the unknown, all evoke the feeling we wanted to purvey, and what the class is about!

Yet another reason why this blog party drew me in. I've been knee deep in Gothic witchiness for the last few weeks!Its not too late to join us if you'd like to create some moody Halloween decor for your home too.

And please remember, that for my September giveaway, I'll be drawing a name to win one of the projects that I made for the class. All comments count.

Thanks again to Justina and Anna for coming up with a great theme and for hosting the party.

***********************************************************************************

I
will be away from my desk and unable to answer comments or mail
packages until Wed. But please do leave a comment if you'd like to be
entered in the September giveaway of one of my completed projects for Romantic Gothic Ghosts.

PS- I know I'll be spending too much in Texas, so I'm having a sale in the Boutique to replenish my funds. Type in this code:

Roundtop

and you'll get 20% off of every purchase!